raindrops
by tatty ted
Summary: Nick finds Miriam sitting in the rain. - —Nick/Miriam.


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><p><strong>raindrops<br>**alone in this fight with herself  
>&amp; the fears whispering<br>stand in the rain — superchick.

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><p>"I'm sorry but your husband is dying."<p>

Seven words, so simple yet so heartbreaking. She stood outside the Emergency Department, a packet of cigarettes in her hand and she sighed. She didn't know why when the news was broken to her that she reached for the cigarettes.

She hadn't smoked in over twenty years.

Walking over to the wall, she sat down, took out a cigarette from the packet and lit it up. Inhaling a breath of smoke, she blew it out and thought about her husband. She had met him twenty-three years ago at the coffee shop.

Like her, he was a regular visitor and it wasn't long before they spoke to each other and introduced themselves. Three years later, she fell in love with him, married him and they had lived the rest of their lives happy.

Until now.

He was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer in August 2007 and she was optimistic. She didn't want to think that he could die and leave her as a widow. They were both young. At first he beat the cancer but two years ago it had returned.

And the sad truth was, it was going to kill him.

She crossed one leg over the other as she brought the cigarette to her lips and inhaled again. She couldn't help but wonder if this was all her fault, whether karma was coming back to hurt her.

There was no denying that she treated her husband like a piece of shit. She emotionally abused him, cheated on him, lied; kicked him whilst he was down and generally made him feel worthless.

She was a mean, cold-hearted bitch and she wished she could turn back time. She couldn't, she had to live with what she had done. Whilst she was thinking, it began to rain and she sighed. She didn't seem to mind, the rain could perhaps mask the silver tears that were now running down her cheeks.

Over the course of five minutes, the rain got heavier and began to soak her clothes, making them stick to her body.

She still remained sat on the wall, she couldn't face going back in there just yet.

Discarding her now finished cigarette on the floor, she took another one out of the packet, put it in her mouth and lit it. This time, she didn't inhale straight away and just watched the cigarette burn.

"Miriam?"

A voice from the side of her broke through her thoughts and she stubbed out the cigarette beside her. She looked at the figure and sighed, she just wished whoever it was to piss off, only in nicer termology.

"Miriam, it's me Nick."

She still didn't respond, she couldn't find the strength inside her to reply. Eventually, Nick moved himself so he was sat beside her and nothing was spoken between them, what could he ask?

"I'm fine." She answered, sniffed and wiped away the tears on her face.

"Miriam—" He began but she cut him off with a simple, "I'm fine!"

It was his turn to sigh knowing that she wasn't being entirely truthful to him. He let a couple of minutes pass, both of them getting soaked by the increasingly heavy downpour and eventually, he spoke again.

"What's the matter?"

There was a silence and she debated whether telling him. There wasn't any point in keeping it a secret any longer, people would find out. There was no such thing as privacy in a hospital, news mainly gossip travelled like fire through the corridors.

Resting her head on his shoulder, she let the silence grow before whispering, "John's dying."

He didn't say anything, simply allowed the news to sink in. John was dying? "I'm sor—" He began.

"Your sorry? Me too. I'm sorry that I was a bitch to him all these years."

A sob escaped her lips but Nick pretended not to have noticed. He knew she didn't like showing her emotions in front of people so he wasn't going to embarrass her. Again, they sat in comfortable silence, the rain now beginning to calm down slightly.

"We best get indoors. We'll both catch our death out here."

She moved her head from his shoulder and made eye contact with him. She smiled weakily and he stood up, extending his hand out to her. She accepted his hand, stood up and together they walked back to the entrance of the hospital.

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><p><strong>an**: if you like it enough to favourite, please leave a review.


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